Dwaine Carpenter should get some sort of assist for his hand in the scoring.

Giving his Calgary Stampeders offence the ball twice at key moments of the game, the linebacker watched from the sidelines as they made the Blue Bombers pay in a 31-23 Stamps victory at McMahon Stadium last night.

The first helped the Stamps jump to an early 6-0 lead after Carpenter's big hit on kick returner Jonathan Hefney caused a fumble recovered by Jon Cornish, giving kicker Sandro DeAngelis his second field goal on as many drives in the opening minutes.

The second had even more impact. Pushing his block right into Bombers quarterback Michael Bishop, Carpenter pounced on the loose ball as Bishop dropped to the turf in a haze for the second time in the game.

"I pushed the running back right into Bishop. He didn't know which way I was gonna go," Carpenter said. "Lucky enough, he coughed it up."

And the Stamps capitalized again to earn some important breathing room -- this time with Henry Burris hooking up with rookie Titus Ryan for a 36-yard touchdown to make it 30-13.

"Any time you get a turnover and the offence can get field position and score, that's a bonus for the team, period," Carpenter said.

It also helps when your defence lays a licking on the opposing quarterback.

Bishop had a long night. Although he didn't miss a snap, he was hurt by a big hit from defensive tackle Tom Johnson in the second quarter as he released the ball. Only sacked once, it seemed the quarterback spent a lot of time on his back anyway.

"I caught him pretty square. I had contain, and I saw him try to curl back inside," said Johnson, who drilled Bishop under the shoulder.